Wrapper for meat from slaughtered animals

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a wrapper for meat from slaughtered animals, consisting of a tubular sheath formed by a fabric with no weft or warp, in which the yarns are joined using heat. The wrapper protects the product from moisture contained in the raw meat itself and from moisture from the exterior, such as rain, to which the meat is exposed during transport.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention, as is clear from the title of this patent specification, is a wrapper that can have different shapes with the function of protecting the meat hygienically after the death of the animal in the slaughterhouse. This invention is designed particularly for transporting meat when raw, i.e. when it has not been subjected to a process of curing and has had no preparation, and is intended for hygienic protection by wrapping the meat from the slaughterhouse where the animal has been slaughtered untill its arrival at the butchering room where the meat is cut up and the resulting pieces wrapped; or, to provide hygienic protection for the meat from the slaughterhouse or butchering room until its arrival at the butcher shop or restaurant, the points of sale to the consumer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Different types of wrapper to preserve raw meat are known. Most known wrappers involve a process of packaging and vacuum preservation.

For the consumption of raw meat that is not vacuum packed, very strict systems have been regulated that establish guidelines to be followed from the slaughter of the animal, temperature and conservation mode at the slaughterhouse and preservation features of said meat in the transport trucks to the point of sale to the public, requirements that are insisted on by the competent authorities as also of the butchering rooms, butchers and restaurants in their obligation to protect the meat until served to the consumer. But within these strict requirements for proper healthy and hygienic handling and transportation it has not been established how the raw meat should be packaged or presented, after the slaughter of the animal until served to the consumer.

It is customary in the slaughterhouse or the butchering room that the meat is introduced into a bag of white cotton fabric. This cotton bag will remain until delivery at the point of sale to the public, where the butcher or the restaurant remove this cotton fabric and continue with the protection of the product in a sanitary condition until it is prepared for the customer.

The drawbacks presented by the cotton wrapper are that the raw meat has areas which contain blood or possible bleeding of the slaughtered animal, the cotton fabric sticking to these areas of the meat. When the product arrives at the butchers or restaurant, the cotton fabric is removed, being inevitable that part of the cotton fabric remains stuck to the meat. This causes consumers to confuse this white fabric with fat from the meat, therefore, it must be removed by the scraping off of all the cotton fibres that are contained on the meat. Another drawback is that the use of cotton fabric accumulates dirt and gives an unhygienic aspect to the meat so wrapped.

Other wrappers are designed to protect meat already cured, such as hams, which are disposed in contact with the skin of this product. None of this background of prior art is related or is relevant for use in the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To avoid the drawbacks described above, the wrapper of this invention is embodied in a fabric that does not contain warp and weft, wherein the yarns are joined by heat; preferably, this material will be polypropylene.

This polypropylene material of the wrapper for raw meat provides the characteristics of being semi-waterproof, thus protecting the product with respect to moisture that the raw meat has and protecting it from moisture coming from the outside, such as rain, to which the meat is exposed in the transfer from the transport truck to the point of sale premises. In turn, this material is porous for the passage of air and is a barrier against bacteria.

Another advantage over the cotton fabric is that the manufacturing cost of polypropylene wrappers or bags is completely advantageous with respect to cotton fabric which is more expensive.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to complement the description that is being carried out and with the purpose of facilitating a better understanding of the characteristics of the invention, the present description is accompanied by a set of drawings showing the preferred embodiment wherein, with an illustrative and non-limiting character, the following has been represented:

FIG. 1.—view of a beef carcass within the wrapper of the invention.

FIG. 2.—view of a chicken inside the wrapper.

FIG. 3.—view of a rabbit inside the wrapper.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The wrapper, object of the invention (1) is made of polypropylene, a material which is defined as a non woven fabric. It is a foil, sheet or film whose yarns are joined by heat and not by weft and warp, the warp being yarns or threads of a fabric placed vertically and the weft being other yarns arranged horizontally that are interlaced between the yarns of the warp to form the fabric.

The wrapper for meat can be presented as a thin layer covering all or part of the meat. The wrapper can be made in the form of a bag with a top opening for inserting or removing the meat. The wrapper can also be made in the form of a tubular sheath open at both ends or closed at one end by stitching, zip or other means available in the market. It can also be made closed at both ends in order to allow for the introduction of the piece of meat and subsequent closing of one or both ends by elastic bands or other conventional means that are arranged at the ends.

The wrapper can have different dimensions, suitable for every piece of meat, for example: rabbit; chicken; lambs, quarters or whole; carcass or half carcass, meaning by carcass the slaughtered animal without head or limbs and the half carcass resulting from the longitudinal axial cut of the spine of the carcass.

It should be understood that the invention has been described according to the preferred embodiment, therefore it can be susceptible to modifications of form, size and materials, provided said alterations do not substantially vary the characteristics of the invention claimed below. 

1. Wrapper for meat of slaughtered animals, designed for the transport of raw meat, meat that has not undergone curing processes, characterised in that it consists of a material composed of yarns that are joined by heat, without weft and warp between yarns.
 2. Wrapper for meat, according to claim 1, characterised in that the material is polypropylene.
 3. Wrapper for meat according to claim 1, characterised in that the wrapper is an open-topped bag.
 4. Wrapper for meat according to claim 1, characterised in that the wrapper is a sheet that partially or totally covers the meat.
 5. Wrapper for meat according to claim 1 characterised in that the wrapper is a tubular sheath.
 6. Wrapper for meat, according to claim 5, characterised in that the sheath is closed at one of its ends.
 7. Wrapper for meat, according to claim 5, characterised in that the sheath is closed at both ends, with the possibility of opening and subsequent closing of one or both ends. 